Editorial: AG Madigan’s version of FOIA rewrite needs to be OK’d

Friday

May 22, 2009 at 12:01 AMMay 22, 2009 at 10:17 PM

Illinois needs a Freedom of Information Act with teeth, such as the one Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office has worked on for months. It doesn’t need the gutted, watered-down version that mysteriously appeared late Tuesday night — one that bears little resemblance to Madigan’s proposal.

Illinois needs a Freedom of Information Act with teeth, such as the one Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office has worked on for months.

It doesn’t need the gutted, watered-down version that mysteriously appeared late Tuesday night — one that bears little resemblance to Madigan’s proposal.

Illinois Press Association officials received a new draft of the FOIA bill about a minute before midnight Tuesday. The draft, written by “legislative staff,” included radical changes from what the advocates thought was the nearly final bill.

We have to wonder who is in charge of the “legislative staff” and where he, she or they got the idea to undo months of work by Madigan’s staff, the IPA, the Illinois Reform Commission and other advocacy groups.

The staff-written draft is a perfect example of how elected officials want to keep you in the dark. Madigan had invited everyone to the table to discuss her proposal, including opponents such as the Illinois Municipal League. Instead of direct opposition, we see a draft that comes from nowhere, surprising the groups who have been working tirelessly to make changes.

On Wednesday it appeared as if all that work would be wasted. IPA officials, in two conference calls with reporters and editors, expressed their frustration with the draft.

IPA interim Executive Director Don Craven, who often has been quoted as saying Illinois’ FOIA law is the worst in the nation, said during the conference call that the current law is better than the staff-written draft.

“As hard as it is to imagine, this actually weakens Illinois’ FOIA law,” Craven said during the call. “Only in Illinois would this bill be defined as reform and transparency.”

The IPA represents more than 500 daily and weekly newspapers across Illinois, making it the largest state newspaper organization in the country. The Rockford Register Star is a member.

On Thursday, the IPA issued a statement to say it is committed to Madigan’s original proposal.
The legislative session is supposed to end May 31, and it seems ambitious to think the FOIA measure could be introduced and voted on before lawmakers go home for the summer.

Cara Smith, Madigan’s deputy chief of staff, said the attorney general’s office was committed to the original provisions in the bill, provisions that included holding officials accountable if they tried to block your requests for information.

Smith was optimistic Thursday.

“The sky is not falling. We’re forging ahead,” she said. “I think we’ll be fine. I don’t know if I would have said that (Wednesday).”

Smith said there was a nearly four-hour meeting Wednesday night with the IPA, the attorney general’s office, the governor, legislative staff, and other interested parties.

During the meeting, stakeholders were assured the staff-written draft was just that — a draft. Smith said it’s all part of the legislative process and she thinks a reasonable bill can be achieved before lawmakers adjourn.

We hope so, because some of the provisions in the staff-written draft are so silly we wonder whether they were meant as jokes. For example, the draft would require public bodies to deliver information in print rather than electronically. Instead of providing a citizen with a CD with information on it, the entity would print out perhaps thousands of pages and charge a copying fee for each page. The costs would be substantial — and needless.

Then there’s the provision that exempts personnel files, medical files and “similar files.” Under that definition, no record about an employee paid with your tax dollars could ever be made public.

Or the provision that would prohibit publishing addresses with police blotter items. If you have a common name like John Smith, you should be especially worried about that one.

Madigan’s proposal would make it easier for you to get information from your government. We hope her bill is introduced and voted on soon.

Sister Publication

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Wellsville Daily Reporter ~ 159 North Main Street, Wellsville, NY 14895 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service